Sunday, June 12, 2005

Twenty five U.S. troops have died this week in separate incidents in war-torn Iraq. And at least 75 people, including eight police officers and 40 fighters, have been killed on Saturday in unrelenting violence.

The U.S. deaths have taken place across Iraq, in combat and claimed non-combat incidents. Five U.S. Marines, most in their early 20s, were killed in a roadside blast in western Iraq Thursday. Another soldier was killed Wednesday in Tikrit when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

Sgt. Roberto Arizola, Jr., 31, of Laredo, Texas, was also killed Wednesday in Baghdad in an IED blast. Two other soldiers were killed in Tikrit the same day after an explosion of unknown origin.Another soldier died Tuesday in Tal Afar when his unit was attacked by using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Also Tuesday Spc. Eric T. Burri, 21, of Wyoming, Mich., died in Baghdad, in another IED attack.

On Monday two soldiers were killed in combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq. Also Monday another soldier died in Baghdad -in an IED attack. On Sunday three soldiers died in Baghdad -also in an IED blast. And also on Sunday Spc. Carrie L. French, a 19 year-old woman from Caldwell, Idaho, died in Kirkuk when an improvised explosive device hit the front of her convoy vehicle and detonated.

Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting police colonels were killed in drive-by shootings in the cities of Kirkuk and Basra on Friday. In Basra, the commander of the local police academy was shot dead. Iraqi security forces also came under attack in other parts of the country.